Power amp suggestions

  • I have the powerhead and yesterday at practice I was thoroughly disappointed at how quiet the head was in a live band setting, additionally i must have been trying to push the head too hard as it bricked 3 times on me and we had to call band practice early. I figured I'd rather run the kemper as a pre amp and buy a power amp so I can run stereo out to my 2 cabs.


    Looking for something that can safely run 2 8 ohm cabs.


    Thank

  • 600 watts ain’t enough? Something isn’t right. Either hardware or set up.


    That’s enough wattage to melt most any guitar speaker in short order. It’s meant to push bass cabinets in a band context.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • Ya i know, but it was really struggling, and it's more that now I'm nervous to use the power amp because I don't want to destroy the head.

    Submit a support ticket. I’m not saying it’s hardware - because a class D amp has no moving parts. Generally speaking, it either works right or not at all.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • I agree with Ruefus.. there must be something wrong If You find the Kemper amp quite or not loud enough.

    About your request for a stereo power amp, sometimes I use a marshall 8008 and I can.t say it works bad.

  • As per the manual:

    The internal power amp is mono, and delivers 600 watts at 8 ohms — however, the wattage will be lowered to 300 watts when used at 16 ohms. At 4 ohms, the wattage is electronically limited to 600 watts. If these 600 watts are exceeded, the power amp is deactivated for a moment, which will result in a short dropout. It would require insane volumes for such dropouts to occur — however, if you are connecting a 4-ohm cabinet, you should test it carefully to ensure that your loudest signals stay below that critical level.

  • Something is wrong as others have said here..I have the powerhead, run through a recto 4x12...The other guitar player has a 50 & 100 W Marshall. We play LOUD...I have no problem keeping up or being not loud enough. Just run 1 4x12 @ 8ohms. Shoul dbe PUNISHINGLY loud.

  • Defo an issue.


    I've been running my powerrack for 6 years and never lacked power, your ears will bleed before you lose power.


    Its either:

    Something in your stereo set up - watts not translating to volume

    frequency clashing - so you have an inordinate amount of volume compared to what you can hear - you can tell but just playing something on your own - this is unlikely

    Fault in you connections

    Fault in you power amp

  • Maybe try the power amp boost?

    Kemper PowerRack |Kemper Stage| Rivera 4x12 V30 cab | Yamaha DXR10 pair | UA Apollo Twin Duo | Adam A7X | Cubase DAW
    Fender Telecaster 62 re-issue chambered mahogany | Kramer! (1988 or so...) | Gibson Les Paul R7 | Fender Stratocaster HBS-1 Classic Relic Custom Shop | LTD EC-1000 Evertune | 1988 Desert Yellow JEM

  • Something is wrong as others have said here..I have the powerhead, run through a recto 4x12...The other guitar player has a 50 & 100 W Marshall. We play LOUD...I have no problem keeping up or being not loud enough. Just run 1 4x12 @ 8ohms. Shoul dbe PUNISHINGLY loud.

    Heading up to my rehearsal space today to run 1 can at 8 Ohms and see how it works out.

  • The other day I was running my powerhead through a 1x12 8 ohm cab. I turned it up till the power meter read 50W (so actually only 25 watts!) And it was so loud you had to yell at the top of your lungs to be heard over it. Pictures were going crooked in the room. If I played it that loud on stage in a club, you would be attacked from all angles, The bar, the sound man, the band.

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    Video of the failure in action, time from fire up to failure is less than 2 minutes. Luckily it didn't brick this time. Definitely is a power amp issue. Sucks.

  • that video... that isn't just your amp crapping out. It looked like the entire unit shut down and restarted.




    But to answer the question as to what to do for sound until you get the unit figured out...

    I am partial to JBL Eon. They are good. They are readily available, which means they can often be had very cheap.

    I know it isn't just a power amp, but it is an option.

    I don't own a Kemper but was here investigating. If I answer a post, it is based on general knowledge - not on Kemper experience.

  • Ya, it'll do this a few times, then won't start up for atleast 20 minutes. I didn't want to put this head through that issue again. Luckily the seller is really working with me to get this fixed.

  • My first guess is a bad cable.

    Are you using an instrument cable from the KPA to the cab? Or a speaker cable? Should be speaker cable.

    Is that cable good? Can you try another?

    Funny thing is that the manual doesn't specify what kind of cable to use. Is one included with a powered KPA? IDK, mines not powered.


    Second, is that cab good? Is a speaker failing? Can you try something else?


    If the cable is intermittent or just attenuating the signal the KPA is not going to like that because it's going to act like a flakely load and amps don't like loads that don't behave. My guess is the KPA is shutting down because it's sensing something wrong with your cable or cab, not the KPA.


    With a solid state amp if it dies you'll know, it will quit for good. This looks like its trying to save itself.


    One more question, does it work for a long time at low volume low gain? If so I would say my original diagnosis is even more solid. When the power is too much for a bad cable it breaks down and fails from heat. When it cools it might look good again.

    Edited once, last by ejanuska: Added info ().